A Swiss police officer stands as a diplomatic delegation cars arrive outside the hotel where is taking place a second day of Omani-mediated talks between the US and Iran in Geneva on Wednesday — AFP PARIS, Feb 18 (AFP): The United States will deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons "one way or the other", US Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump "believes firmly we cannot have a nuclear-armed Iran," Wright told reporters in Paris on the sidelines of meetings of the International Energy Agency.
"They've been very clear about what they would do with nuclear weapons. It's entirely unacceptable," Wright said.
"So one way or the other, we are going to end, deter Iran's march towards a nuclear weapon," he added.
US and Iranian officials held talks in Geneva on Tuesday aimed at averting the possibility of US military intervention to curb Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iran said following the talks that they had agreed on "guiding principles" for a deal to avoid conflict.
US Vice President JD Vance, however, said Tehran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington's red lines.
Iran has not agreed to all the "red lines" set out by US President Donald Trump for a diplomatic solution, Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday after talks in Geneva.
Vance appeared to indicate that the United States was still interested in diplomacy, after Trump threatened force if Iran's clerical state does not agree on key concerns starting with its nuclear program.
"In some ways, it went well; they agreed to meet afterwards," Vance said in a Fox News interview.
"But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through," Vance told "The Story with Martha MacCallum" program.
"We're going to keep on working it. But of course, the president reserves the ability to say when he thinks that diplomacy has reached its natural end," Vance said.
"We hope we don't get to that point, but if we do that will be the president's call."
Meanwhile, Iran summoned Germany's ambassador on Tuesday to protest recent "anti-Iran activities" following a major demonstration in Munich over the weekend, state media reported.
Saturday's protest in Munich, which police estimated some 250,000 people took part in, was addressed by Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the Islamic revolution in 1979 and a critic of the current authorities.
"Following anti-Iran activities in Germany and destructive positions taken by officials of this country against the Islamic Republic of Iran in violation of international law, Axel Dittmann, Germany's ambassador in Tehran, was summoned to the foreign ministry and Iran's strong protest was conveyed to him," the official IRNA news agency said.
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
